The Patient Senior Citizens
I will never forget Thursday afternoons in fifth and sixth grade when I would get on the school bus with all my friends and we would head to downtown Tampa. The final destination was a nursing home where we were all assigned a resident and adopted them as our grandparent for the school year.
Many of the days we spent our time just playing games. Another thing they loved to do was talk about what they did in the war – they told some great stories. In October we would watch day baseball games – the Yankee fans, all former New Yorkers, were always the loudest. All of the residents found these days to be a great opportunity to have some fun and drink root beer. I don’t know where it came from, but there was an endless supply of root beer when we visited. Sometimes they would read from their Bibles, and talk to us about their relationship with the Lord. They loved to get out the pictures of their family, and became so excited as they shared about their families and the adventures they had taken together. The days with these men and women shaped me and gave me insight on how much older people had to offer me as I journeyed through life.
Our first journey together in Advent though the scriptures is found in Luke 2:25-40. Two senior citizens step into the pages of scripture as they bump into Mary and Joseph and their new baby, the long awaited Messiah. Luke tells us a lot about the two senior citizens who had waited for this moment all their lives.
The first senior citizen that Luke introduces is Simeon, whose Hebrew name means, God has heard.1 In his very short bio we learn that he was a righteous man, devoted to the Lord, was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon Him. In Luke 2:27, we see that the Spirit of God had led him to the temple where he would encounter the Messiah he had been waiting for all his life.
The first time I held my kids and my new granddaughter I found out something about myself. In my first interactions with them I just couldn’t stop kissing them. It was ridiculous, I could not resist kissing their little heads and telling them how much I loved them. Those early moments with my children and grandchild are such great memories.
I think Simeon had the same response to Jesus. Recognizing that God had kept His promise that he would see Messiah before he died, Simeon took the little boy in his arms, and probably kissed His little head. Overwhelmed the power of the Spirit and a promise kept he started praising God for sending the long awaited Messiah who would bring salvation to the world. His words caused Mary and Joseph to marvel [wonder what Simeon was referring too] at the revelation that had been shared with them. Simeon provided food for thought, and insight concerning the salvation that would be available to all people through Jesus. He also provided information to Mary and Joseph about the journey ahead for their new son, a journey that would be perilous, painful, and glorious [Luke 2:32].
In Luke 2:36, Anna steps onto center stage and her bio is fascinating. She was a good Jewish girl form the tribe of Asher. “Anna’s name is spelled the same in Greek as Hannah, the mother of Samuel (1 Sam 1:2).”2 Luke gives us insight about her journey as a child, teenager, wife, and widow. From a realistic timeline it can be assumed that Anna was over one hundred years old when she intersected Jesus at the temple. She was busy in her 84 years at the temple worshipping, fasting, and praying night and day. “Anna represents the physically and spiritually hungry people whom God promises to fill with good things”3 In a beautiful moment her waiting was over because she was in the presence of Jesus. The Savior of the world had come to bring redemption to His people and she was full of gratitude as she spent time in His presence.
As we begin this season the driving force of our sermons is a question: Can I get a witness? When someone says, “Can I get a witness?”, it is a call for someone to personally affirm the truth that is being proclaimed. All through scripture we have several witnesses who testified to the coming of Jesus, the presence of Jesus, the blessings found in Jesus, and the ultimate redemption that comes only through Him [John 14:6]. We are all called to testify to the impact that our relationship with Jesus has made on our lives. Unlike, Simeon and Anna, we know the rest of the story and that Jesus finished the work of redemption on the cross, and the empty grave is proof that He has conquered death. God has kept His promise to redeem those who turn to Him and are saved “by grace though faith” [Ephesians 2:8,9]
Our proclamation this Advent Season is, “Can I get a witness?” Go ahead Peter:
Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. I Peter 1:10-12
Pastor Chuck
- https://biblehub.com/greek/4826.htm [accessed 11/26/2024] ↩︎
- David E. Garland & Clinton E. Arnold, Exegetical Commentary of the New Testament, Luke [Zondervan:2011], 137. ↩︎
- Heil, John Paul. The Meal Scenes in Luke-Acts: An Audience-Oriented Approach. Society of Biblical Literature Monograph Series 52. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 1999.” [Found in Exegetical Commentary of the New Testament, Luke] ↩︎